Golf tourney benefits Special Olympics

By Stephanie Bertholdo
bertholdo@theacorn.com

Kristine Johnson is a gymnast, a power lifter, a golfer, tennis player, and a competitive bocce ball athlete.

For the past 20 years, Kristine, 36, has honed her skills as an athlete in the Tri-Valley Special Olympics.

She’s also become an advocate for the Special Olympics, encouraging other youngsters and adults with Downs Syndrome to participate in the annual games through speaking engagements at local schools.

This year’s games promise to be another spectacular event due to the joint effort of the Tri-Valley Special Olympics, the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center, and the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, who teamed up to raise funds for the event.

On March 7, the group will host the Superstars for Special Olympics Golf Classic at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

Golfers will have the chance to be paired with Hall of Fame, All-Star and other legendary retired basketball players, including Moses Malone, Rick Barry, Ed Ratleff, Maurice Lucas, Darwin Cook and a host of other well-known athletes. (Visit www.ss4so.com to register, or call the Special Olympics office at (818) 342-0017.)

Jan Maseda, director of the Tri-Valley Special Olympics, said the annual games help people with Downs Syndrome and other conditions under the umbrella of mental retardation, including cerebral palsy epilepsy, and autism.

The funds, Maseda said, will help maintain and expand programs like the Tierra Del Sol day program for the mentally handicapped.

"We just put our whole program up there," Maseda said. She added that an additional 200 athletes will be participating in the Special Olympics.

Funds pay for equipment, uniforms, transportation to and from the competition, blacktopping the basketball court, and other expenses associated with preparing athletes for competition.

More than 800 children and adults with developmental disorders are participating in the Tri-Valley Special Olympics. Athletes travel from Burbank and Glendale, but many live in the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and surrounding communities in the Conejo Valley.

Maseda said athletes are 8 to 60 years old. They train weekly in 12 sports at 20 different venues.

Athletes, like Johnson, train in basketball, track and field, tennis, swimming, bocce ball, bowling, equestrian, gymnastics, power-lifting, golf and softball.

"We have to pay for the facilities," Maseda said.

"We just say that the good news is that these individuals with developmental disabilities can expect to have a normal life span now, and part of the program is to keep these athletes physically fit through sports," she said.

Not too long ago, people with Downs Syndrome had markedly shorter life spans than the general population. Maseda said that the 35-year life span has been extended to 70 years.

"This is the first wave of clients that have outlived their parents," she explained.

Now that the lives of people with Downs Syndrome have been extended, they are vulnerable to the same diseases associated with age as the population at large.

"They have the same life-style diseases," Maseda said, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and others.

The Special Olympics make them feel more confident, Maseda said, while allowing the community to feel more comfortable with them as citizens. "We like to take them everywhere," she said.

"My favorite sport is helping my girls out for gymnastics," Johnson said. "I help all athletes to get ready. I warm them up and help them with their routines."